In this edition of “This Week in Social Media,” we talk about Facebook launching an update to its ads platform, Twitter gets an audio update, and Pinterest allows iOS users to Pin directly from their browser.

Facebook Rooms

Recently Facebook launched a new feature called “Rooms.” The new feature comes amid the privacy conerns that have dominated news. Rooms are essentially an anonymous chatroom that let’s users connect with others based on sharedinterests. Example: You could start a room about your favorite television show, let’s say The Walking Dead. Then people could join the chatroom anonymously and chat with you about the show. Joining a room does not require you to identify yourself by your name but you are asked to supply a nickname.

Initially, Rooms is only being introduced to iOS users with plans to roll it out to more platforms down the road. Rooms could be a great place for you to connect with your audience if you are able to locate them with in a particular chatroom. If you are a local business, you could join a Room that centers around your community. You might not want to be to forthcoming with the sales messages as this might deter users from engaging with you. What you could do instead is answer any type of questions, or make recommendations based off conversations taking place in the room.

Twitter Small Business Planner

Last month Twitter updated their Twitter for Business site updating the look and reorganizing the content of its hub for marketing instruction and resources. Just this past week a new Twitter app was rolled out for both iOS and Android devices geared towards small businesses. As the holidays are fast-approaching, Twitter wanted to help small businesses capture and convert as many customers as possible- thus they released Small Business Planner.

The app features research, success stories, blog articles and e-books, but as you would expect it has several more interactive features. One of the interactive features available with the app is a calendar sync tool- now you can stay up-to-date with Twitter and all of your other marketing initivates. Additionally, you can get Tweet suggestions, Twitter Ads strategies, and information on Twitter tools to help maximize your time and efforts on the social network.

Pinterest Updates iOS App Again

In our last This Week in Social Media blog post we mentioned Pinterest rolled out a new feature in the iOS app. Now this week the social network gave the iOS version a face-lift giving it a fresh new look. The goal behind the redesign was to de-clutter and simplify the navigation on the app making it easier for users to browse Pinterest. The next time you see a product, place or article Pin, take a look close up at the Pin. You will notice the info and image have much more room on the screen. The app will be rolling out to other devices over the coming weeks and months according to Pinterst.

The big push behind the update was to get users to what they want to do faster- and that’s Pinning. Now when your customers are browsing your Pins they will be more prominent so make sure when you are uploading Pins that you choose very clear, and defined images that represent your prodcut, brand, and/or service. With the growing popularity of people using their mobile devices to browse social networks having good images can make a world of difference.